A hard-line anti-independence group cancelled a threatened mass protest
on Monday at the U.N.'s East Timor mission in eastern Indonesia, easing
fears of possible attacks on U.N. staff.

The group, led by notorious East Timorese militia leader Eurico
Guterres, had sent a letter last week promising a massive demonstration
unless the U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) closed
its office in Kupang, the capital of neighbouring Indonesian West Timor.

Kupang is the base for remaining pro-Jakarta militias who were pushed
out of East Timor by international peace-keepers after the territory voted
for independence one year ago last week.

The militias now effectively run West Timor and are forcibly preventing
more than 120,000 East Timorese refugees from returning home.

U.N. staff in Kupang had feared possible attacks by pro-integration
protesters on Monday, following a violent rampage last week in which they
attacked a local legislature building and beat up several journalists.

Two weeks ago, militiamen attacked staff of the U.N. refugee agency in
West Timor, prompting the agency to shut down for six days.

"It's very quiet here at the moment," said Timothy Hudner, an
official at the UNTAET mission in Kupang. "There were lots of rumours
that (the demonstration) was going to happen."

He said the U.N. averted the demonstration by holding talks with
low-level members of the pro-autonomy group Uni Timor Aswain (UNTAS), who
ultimately withdrew their demand that the mission be closed.

"In return, we said we would write a letter for them outlining
points ... that we said we would do to improve our relationship,"
Hudner said.

He said UNTAET also planned to organize meetings within a month between
pro-autonomy members, the U.N. and members of East Timor's victorious
armed independence movement, Falintil, to discuss reconciliation.

"The UNTAS I have been talking to are very reasonable, highly
educated people that want a political solution to the problem,"
Hudner said.

He said he did not think the group was linked to militiamen who
continue to launch cross-border raids into East Timor, or those preventing
refugees from returning home.

Meanwhile, a separate group of pro- Indonesia East Timorese continued a
"hunger strike" outside the UNTAET mission in Kupang on Monday,
saying they would not eat until the office closed.

However, U.N. staff said the hunger strikers were seen eating and
drinking when local journalists were not around.

In Jakarta, a small group of pro- Indonesia East Timorese protested
outside the U.N. headquarters, demanding the world body acknowledge that
it rigged East Timor's independence vote.

Pro-Jakarta groups and many in the Indonesian military and government
continue to disbelieve that nearly 80 per cent of the territory's 800,000
people voted for independence.

The wide margin was mainly due to the brutal treatment the East
Timorese suffered at the hands of the Indonesian military, which invaded
the territory in 1975 and annexed it a year later.

Militiamen and Indonesian military units launched a murder, rape and
arson spree in East Timor after the independence ballot on August 30,
1999, destroying around 80 per cent of the territory's buildings and
killing as many as 1,200 people.

The carnage stopped three weeks later only after an Australian-led
peace-keeping force arrived to restore order.

The Indonesian government last week announced a list of 19 suspects it
would investigate for the violence, including three military and police
generals. dpa jc jh

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